Search Engine Technology by Alex Katraie

PM attracts cross-party criticism with claim that aclimate politics is at breaking pointa during combative summit visit

Rishi Sunak has been accused of ashrinking and retreatinga from global leadership as he used the Cop28 summit to claim that aclimate politics is at breaking pointa because of the costs of net zero.

While many other world leaders, including King Charles, spoke of the urgency of action on the climate, the prime minister used his brief appearance at the summit in Dubai to promote his approach to slowing the pace of net zero policies and reducing pressures on family finances.

Israel orders Palestinians to evacuate southern city of Khan Younis, where it says Hamas leadership is based

• Israel-Hamas war a live updates

Israel has signalled that it is preparing to launch a ground assault in southern Gaza in a significant escalation of the war, as it attacked the Strip on Friday after the end of a seven-day truce, leaving at least 178 Palestinians dead.

The countryas military dropped leaflets in parts of Khan Younis, where Israel believes Hamasas leadership is based, warning citizens to evacuate farther south to Rafah, prompting humanitarian groups to say that Palestinians risked being forced completely out of the territory.

Actor called critics apaedophilesa after they labelled him aracista following his call for boycott of Sainsburyas over Black History Month stance

The actor and politician Laurence Fox has been accused of ainsulting the intelligence of everyone presenta during a libel trial at the high court over an argument on social media.

Fox had called for a boycott of Sainsburyas in October 2020 on X, then known as Twitter, in response to the supermarket chain saying it would provide a safe space for black employees during Black History Month. He was called aa racista by the drag artist Crystal, the former Stonewall trustee Simon Blake, and the broadcaster Nicola Thorp.

Ramblers criticise appointment of Robbie Douglas-Miller to Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

No 10 has appointed a wealthy Scottish landowner accused by ramblers of restricting public access to his estate as a new environment minister by making him a peer.

The government made the surprise announcement on Friday afternoon that the king was giving the title of baron to Robbie Douglas-Miller, allowing him to enter the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs as a minister.

Congressman, who has pleaded not guilty to 23 federal fraud charges, becomes only sixth member ever expelled from US House

• How Santos responded to being fact-checked on his lies
• Whoall replace him in his New York swing district?

The New York Republican, fabulist and accused fraudster George Santos has been expelled from Congress.

The vote to expel Santos, the second since his election last year, required a two-thirds majority of those present. The final tally on Friday was 311-114, with two members recorded present and eight absent.

Friday night is expected to be cold and frosty, as Met Office warns of showers in coastal areas

The wintry weather, which has brought snowfall to parts of the UK and reduced overnight temperatures to nearly -10C (14F), is set to continue into the weekend.

Many areas of the north of England and Scotland woke to freezing conditions on Friday morning, the start of the meteorological winter, as sleet and snow showers continued through Thursday night.

X plans to cater to small and medium-sized businesses as big advertisers pull their dollars

Major advertisers like Disney, IBM and Apple are still withholding ad dollars from Elon Muskas X two weeks after its owner endorsed an antisemitic tweet and two days after he launched an expletive-laden tirade to describe his feelings about the pull back. Marketing agencies are pulling back from it as well. In response, X has said it plans to attract smaller and medium-sized businesses to prop up its income.

aSmall and medium businesses are a very significant engine that we have definitely underplayed for a long time,a a statement given by the company to the Financial Times on Friday reads. aIt [was] always part of the plan a now we will go even further with it.a

Actor played Thelma Ferris, wife of Rodney Bewesa Bob, in popular BBC1 sitcom that aired from 1973-74

Brigit Forsyth, who starred in Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?, has died at the age of 83, her agent has confirmed.

The Scottish actor played Thelma Ferris, the long-suffering wife of Rodney Bewesa character, Bob, in the 70s BBC sitcom. She died apeacefully in her sleep surrounded by her familya in the early hours of Friday morning, her agent, Mark Pemberton, confirmed.

Christmas alumni episode had one blind entrant and another who was neurodivergent, both of whom say they did not get help

The BBC has apologised and pulled a Christmas episode of University Challenge after two contestants complained about a lack of provision for their disabilities.

The festive spin-off from the BBC Two quiz show, hosted by Amol Rajan, features teams of distinguished alumni who compete on behalf of their former universities.

PM favoured aa lot more punishmentsa, Patrick Vallance wrote in diary in September 2020, three months after unlawful No 10 party

Boris Johnson pushed to apunish people who arenat doing the right thinga and for amassive finesa when it came to lockdown rules, the Covid-19 inquiry has heard.

An extract from the diaries of the governmentas chief scientific adviser at the time, Sir Patrick Vallance, recorded discussions he had with the then prime minister and health secretary in September 2020, when cases, admissions and deaths had all risen.

More than 170 Palestinians killed as Red Cross head warns anightmarish situationa for civilians has returned

• Israel-Hamas war a live updates

Israel attacked targets across Gaza after the end of a seven-day ceasefire on Friday, leaving more than 170 Palestinians dead after negotiations over further hostage releases fell apart overnight.

Israelas military said it had attacked 200 targets from land, sea and air across the north and south of the strip by lunchtime, including in Khan Younis, a southern city from which it had ordered civilians to evacuate.

Safety of civilians held by Hamas in further doubt after expiration of truce that allowed hostage-prisoner swaps

The families of hostages being held in Gaza have said they are terrified about the safety of their loved ones after the end of a seven-day ceasefire.

Fighting resumed on Friday after the expiry of the truce, during which Hamas released 80 Israeli hostages in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners.

IDF claim to be avoiding blanket bombing the south, where about 2mn people live, but their new approach does not look much different

Israelas Defense Forces waited just four minutes after the truce expired at 7am before restarting bombing, according to one resident of Khan Younis. An hour later, its military set out its plan for the anext stage of the wara: a division of Gaza into dozens of numbered aevacuation areasa, a core part of the militaryas plan to gradually take control of the southern part of the strip.

The militaryas plan, canvassed privately this week, is to avoid a repeat of the blanket bombing of the northern Gaza in the crowded south, with sequential, targeted bombing campaigns. Under the plan, people in certain numbered districts of Gaza will be told to evacuate before bombing begins, although how much time they will get is not clear; homes in Khan Younis were among the targets struck on Friday hours after the truce expired, and residents were given little if any time to flee.

Fresh attacks target a population weakened by weeks without food, clean water or sanitation

• Israel-Hamas war a live updates

It took only seconds for the bombs to start falling on Gaza again. The week-long ceasefire ended at 7am local time, and almost immediately, the sound of explosions filled the corridors of al-Nasr hospital in the south of the territory.

aThis is the biggest still functioning hospital in Gaza. Itas at 200%-plus capacity,a said James Elder, a spokesperson for Unicef, describing the end of the truce from al-Nasr. aThe health system is overwhelmed. It cannot take more children with the wounds of war.a

Athens press interpret attire at Cop28 as possible backing over Parthenon sculptures after Greek PM snubbed by Rishi Sunak

He may simply have been embracing his Greek ancestry, or thought it would complement his suit. But King Charlesas decision to sport a tie bearing the Greek flag when he addressed Cop28 alongside the UK prime minister, Rishi Sunak, was bound to raise eyebrows, given the recent diplomatic spat over the Parthenon sculptures.

The king, whose father was born in Corfu as a prince of Greece, may also have been taking a leaf out of his mother Queen Elizabeth IIas sartorial handbook in statement dressing.

We put to the test the prime ministeras claims in defence of his net zero rollback

Rishi Sunak has made a series of claims about the UKas climate record in defence of his net zero rollback. Speaking at a press conference during a short visit to the Cop28 climate conference in Dubai, the prime minister insisted he had not faced any criticism from other world leaders for watering down his climate pledges.

Lone parent Rebecca Anderson feels women in UK who do not breastfeed are being penalised after 25% price rise

• Iceland boss hits out at parent aexploitationa in baby milk market

Rebecca Anderson, 37, knows how it feels to be on the sharp end of baby formula price rises. A civil servant and lone parent in Middlesbrough, Anderson has noticed the price tag on the formula she feeds her 10-month-old son has been rising since he was born, reaching APS13.50 in Tesco and Morrisons. According to the price comparison site Which?, the retail price of HiPP Organic 1 First Milk Powder (800g) rose by 12.9% in the year to May 2023.

Anderson spoke to the Guardian about her experience as a new parent who is reliant on formula, after the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) on Wednesday revealed manufacturers had hiked their prices by more than their costs during the inflation crisis. Parents have been hit with an average 25% increase in two years.

Presenter Ade Adepitanas attempt to highlight the environmental impact of beef is totally clueless. Itas stupid, shouty and patronising

aIave got to be honest with you a Iave never done anything like this before. I donat even know where to start.a

Can I be equally honest? If you find these words being uttered in your documentary, stop. Go back. Scrap everything. Just bin it. It wonat do. Consider yourselves worthy of more than this kind of lazy, contemptuous programme-making. Because, at this late stage of the game, we surely are.

Sharing walls or floors in apartment buildings means sharing noise, but it doesnat have to lead to conflict

Six years ago, in the haze of new motherhood, Adrianne Wright found herself facing an unexpected problem: a disgruntled neighbor.

Her daughter had been born nine weeks premature. aThere was a lot going on, understandably, from getting used to this new chapter to dealing with some of the health complications that she was experiencing, with [a|] noisy machines at home to monitor breathing.a The last thing Wright, the founder of the communications agency Think Rosie, wanted was to receive noise complaints from the neighbor living below her brownstone apartment in New York Cityas Park Slope neighborhood.

The work of the Scottish painter and playwright John Byrne, who has died aged 83, was all of a piece. His characters and caricatures, on stage or canvas, all stemmed from a sly, literate sense of humour, a close acquaintance with popular culture, and a fierce political independence.

Byrne himself entered that realm of popular culture with two acclaimed drama series on television after 20 years of hard graft in his studio and in the theatre. Tutti Frutti (1987) was an explosively funny six-part BBC series about a chaotic touring rock band, the Majestics (aScotlandas Kings of Rocka), led by Robbie Coltrane, and whose members include Emma Thompson and Maurice RoA<, with Richard Wilson as their increasingly dour and exasperated manager.

Local Democratic and Republican parties will choose their candidates for special election to fill vacant Long Island seat

• Republican George Santos expelled from Congress
• How Santos responded to being fact-checked on his lies

The expulsion of George Santos from Congress on Friday has ramifications beyond the New York Republicanas career prospects.

The historic vote has sparked a scramble among Democrats and Republicans to elect a replacement for Santos, who was found by an ethics committee to have used campaign funds for purchases. A special election is likely to take place early next year.

Ahead of his rebootas climax, the emotional star talks about being afilthy richa, his love-fest with Nicholas Lyndhurst a and hearing from Marty via a medium

The person Kelsey Grammer most wanted to like the Frasier reboot will never see it. aHe was my father,a said Grammer when John Mahoney died in 2018. aI loved him.a Grammeras own father was killed when he was 13, a year after the death of the grandfather who raised him. When Mahoney took the role of Frasieras dad Martin, he also adopted the role of a loving, stable parent for what was a notably close cast. Taking Grammer to rehab in 1996 was, said Mahoney, athe hardest thing Iave ever done in my lifea. But it worked.

Almost all the main players from the original show passed on the chance to return. Yet Grammer was adamant that Mahoney would somehow be present.

Guardian readers pay tribute to the late Pogues frontman, who soundtracked their childhood, inspired their art and PhDs, and performed some of the most raucous, beer-soaked gigs ever

Like many who came before me, I made the hard decision to leave the green fields of home for better opportunities across the Irish Sea. I moved to Manchester on my own at the age of 24, where I knew no one. Having grown up listening to the Pogues, their songs were the soundtrack of my childhood with my dad, who videoed me and my siblingsa childhood endlessly, using their music as the backing track. Shaneas songwriting enveloped me in nostalgic warmth and kept me going at the toughest of times, through homesickness, loneliness and guilt.

One song in particular resonated with me a Sally MacLennane. It always lifted my mood: aIad like to think of me returning when I cana played over and over in my mind every time I returned to England and had to say my goodbyes. Although I knew I wasnat going to be away for ever, it didnat make the goodbyes any easier a especially with ageing parents and a poorly grandparent.

There has been an absence of adults that are prepared to see the areal youa. You need to find a place where your feelings are taken seriously

I am an 18-year-old autistic person with complex mental health issues, including addiction, which I am seeking treatment for.

Iave been forced to do a lot of introspection as part of trying to get sober, and something that has come up for me is the pressure Iave felt of being the agood girla when I was a child.

As a new film spotlights her 60-year career, record-breaking background artist Jill Goldston discusses turning down Warren Beattyas indecent proposal and hanging out with David Bowie

Jill Goldston has only recently moved into this airy flat, on the site of the old Teddington television studios in south-west London, but there are already two framed items on prominent display. One is her newly awarded Guinness World Records certificate for aThe most appearances by an extra/background actressa. The other is the poster for Jill, Uncredited, the strangely moving documentary short that has brought her into focus at last. aIave had an amazing career,a Jill says, as she sits down at the dining room table, to tell her film industry fable over a cup of tea. aSelf-indulgent, really a I was getting paid to have fun and I always found the people fascinating.a

Now a vivacious 80-year-old, Goldston was born nearby in 1943, within people-watching distance of Twickenham Studios, the birthplace of British classics such as The Italian Job. She discovered her love of dance aged three, and at 15 ran away from home to join the Butlinas revue company. aNot because I didnat like my parents, who I liked very much indeed, but because it was an adventure. So I left them a note and went.a It was at Butlinas that Jill met her husband, Geoff, with whom sheas recently celebrated a 60th wedding anniversary, although when I congratulate her, Jill says airily, aI think it shows a lack of imagination, actually.a If so, sheas more than compensated for that lack in other areas.

The Israelisa goal of destroying the enemy risks slipping further out of reach the more they pursue it

And on the eighth day, the war began anew. After a week of joy and relief for those Israeli families reunited with loved ones held hostage by Hamas, and of respite from Israeli bombardment for the people of Gaza, seven days of rolling ceasefires came to an end this morning. No more hugs, no more quiet. Instead, the war between Israel and Hamas is back on, presenting once more what moral philosophers refer to as a atragic choicea a a dilemma where there are no good options, only two different routes to disaster. In fighting Hamas, Israel faces just such a predicament a and yet there are too many, among both those who defend Israel and those who denounce it, who refuse to see that.

Start with those who believe that the massacre by Hamas of more than 1,200 Israelis on 7 October gives Israel the moral licence to respond however it sees fit, subject to almost no limitations. In this view, the horror of the October attacks, the sadism and cruelty of the killing, torture and rape, crossed every moral red line and so Israel can do whatever it takes to defeat those to blame. Not as revenge, but as prevention a to ensure that Hamas cannot make good on its vow to stage another 7 October, and another and another, until Israel is eradicated.

Jonathan Freedland is a Guardian columnist

The Sussexes-friendly author swears he never name-checked Charles and Kate. The truth? Look, itas very hard to nail down

A hugely intriguing week in Dutch publishing mishaps, as the Netherlandsa edition of a new book about the royals names King Charles and the Princess of Wales as the two family members who supposedly speculated about the skin colour of Prince Harry and his wife Meghanas then-unborn son. The opus in question is Endgame by Omid Scobie a officially, a Sussex-friendly journalist; unofficially, a jacquard polo shirt influencer of quite substantial importance. Asked about the raging drama, Scobie declared: aTo be honest, Iave been operating a bubble of no emotion for the last 10 days.a Which youall know was the exact same thing Lytton Strachey said in the week of publication of his volume on Queen Victoria. Nothing becomes a contempo historian like the aI canat evena of it all.

But we race ahead of ourselves. The details a I want to say facts, but I somehow feel that judgment is best reserved for now a are these. Omid Scobie, who increasingly looks like a felt-pen drawing of Omid Scobie, has this week published Endgame, which the publisher says is aa penetrating investigation into the current state of British monarchya. Go on. aAn unpopular king, a power-hungry heir to the throne, a queen willing to go to dangerous lengths to preserve her image, and a prince forced to start a new life after being betrayed by his own family a| this is the royal familyas endgame. Do they have what it takes to save it?a You get the gist. For anyone who ordered the word salad, he recommends the Windsors amove forward with growtha.

The fight between two of Americaas most powerful governors, billed by Fox as aThe Great Red v Blue State Debatea, mostly hurt DeSantis

On Thursday night, Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, reminded the US why he will never be president. His voice grates, his visage a cross between a squinted grimace and scowl. He looks like Manuel Noriega, the ex-Panamanian dictator, without the scarring. On a personal level, he lacks humor, warmth, wit or uplift. He is ham-handed, an awkward social warrior.

DeSantis comes across as too hot. This is the guy who picked a fight with Mickey Mouse, his stateas largest employer. He holds degrees from Yale and Harvard, but repeatedly flashes clouded judgment. In other words, there are plenty of reasons why he is getting walloped among Republicans by Donald Trump.

As Cop28 gets under way, it is vital that corporations and richer nations invest in the global south

• Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber is president of the Cop28 United Nations climate change conference and William Ruto is president of Kenya

Without urgent action to bolster green jobs in developing economies, the collective action needed to win the fight against climate change will remain elusive. Developing nations face a number of socioeconomic challenges, forcing them to tighten spending. More people worldwide are living in hunger, and 2 billion people lack access to safely managed drinking water at home. More than 60% of low-income countries are in, or at high risk of, debt distress, while access to capital is limited and the cost of borrowing prohibitive. This leaves minimal room for the debt creation and spending needed to fund climate action.

Green industrialisation presents an opportunity for developing nations to achieve socioeconomic transformation by combining environmental stewardship and economic progress. It offers a pathway for sustainable and inclusive growth and can address these structural challenges by improving access to energy, industrialisation and diversification, and growing employment.

Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber is president of the Cop28 United Nations climate change conference

William Ruto is president of Kenya

Cop28: Can fossil fuel companies transition to clean energy?
On Tuesday 5 December, 8pm-9.15pm GMT, join Damian Carrington, Christiana Figueres, Tessa Khan and Mike Coffin for a livestreamed discussion on whether fossil fuel companies can transition to clean energy. Book tickets here or at theguardian.live

For both the UK prime minister and Kyriakos Mitostakis, this row is actually about nationalist politics. The sculptures are just a facade

For Britain, renewed demands by Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Greeceas prime minister, to relinquish the Parthenon marbles brings the country face to face with its colonial past. For Greece, repatriating the sculptures, which have been housed in the British Museum since 1817, is a matter of national identity.

For the past 200 years, Greeks have leaned heavily on the idea that the present-day nation is an extension of ancient Greece. From a young age, this is what I was taught in school. Ancient Greece was everywhere in the curriculum and we were encouraged to feel great pride in having originated from the cradle of European civilisation. But after moving abroad as an adult and reading more widely, I started to question the fragile link between our past and present. Most Greeks will argue for repatriation of the Parthenon sculptures on the basis that ancient Greek artefacts are part of its national heritage. But the current debate exceeds national borders.

Marina Prentoulis is Associate Professor in Politics and Media at the University of East Anglia

Another health advocate has said the phenomenon is genuine a and take it from me, it is. But not in the way sheas suggesting

You donat need a man to tell you man flu is real, although he still will. And now health advocates are agreeing with us: nutritionist Jenna Hope, author of the new book How to Stay Healthy, is perhaps the most recent to argue that men really do suffer more than women when theyare ill. aWhen we look at the evidence we find that the female immune system is actually stronger than the male immune system,a she told the Times. Women have higher levels of progesterone and oestrogen, she says, which tend to support the immune system, while men have higher levels of testosterone, which suppresses immunity.

But when we talk about man flu, are we really talking about an increased sensitivity to symptoms, or just a decreased ability to stop going on about them? The term aman flua has always suggested exaggeration, not least because the illness in question is almost never flu; itas usually just a cold.

Tim Dowling is a Guardian columnist

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.

This isnat some ghoulish competition, where any empathy shown to dead Israelis leaves less available for Palestinians

There is no such thing as a perfect victim, but a million ways to be an imperfect one. She was drinking. Her skirt was too short. She went willingly back to the footballeras mansion, or up to Harvey Weinsteinas hotel suite, so what did she think was going to happen? Maybe she was a teenage runaway, or a sex worker; he was a good boy, or a much-loved celebrity. There is a long list of reasons rapists get away with it, but it all too often starts with a juryas refusal to listen to a woman they have already decided for some stubborn reason not to like. Remember that, as we come to the distressing picture now emerging of alleged multiple rapes and sexual assaults by Hamas fighters amid the atrocities of 7 October.

This week, the UN secretary general, AntA3nio Guterres, finally called for what he described as anumerous accounts of sexual violence during the abhorrent acts of terror by Hamasa to be avigorously investigateda.

Gaby Hinsliff is a Guardian columnist

Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues is available from the following organisations. In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support on 0808 500 2222 in England and Wales, 0808 801 0302 in Scotland, or 0800 0246 991 in Northern Ireland. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.

I take to the blankets with joy, dimmed only by the prospect of party season and the possible need for shopping

Itas here, itas here, itas finally here! Seasonal weather has arrived. All miserable memories of summer can finally be banished as we winter people sink gladly, at last, beneath the store of blankets and throws hoarded against this glorious day.

Just like oil and gas businesses, and petro-states, carbon-intensive industries including meat will fight to keep on polluting

Agriculture companies and lobbyists are among those who arrived in the United Arab Emirates for Cop28 determined to resist pressure on them to transform their businesses. Documents show that JBS, the worldas biggest meat company, and allies including the Global Dairy Platform, planned to make arguments in favour of livestock farming with afull forcea. While the sincerity of fossil-fuel businessesa commitment to a green transition has long been doubted, they are not the only energy-intensive businesses to approach�Cop28 as an opportunity to promote their activities a�rather than a threat.

While the ostensible purpose is to safeguard the planet for the future, the fear is that the Cop process has been captured by the short-term interests of carbon-emitting industries that will do anything to protect their wealth. This yearas gathering is hosted by Sultan Al Jaber, the chief executive of the UAEas national oil company.

Having off-pitch officials who could replay match incidents was supposed to help referees. But technology is changing the sport, critics say, for the worse

In football, the video assistant referee (VAR) was brought in to reduce the number of controversial decisions. Many fans, with good reason, think the opposite has happened, despite refereesa intuitive, expert judgment being augmented by an off-pitch official viewing match footage. One Champions League VAR official was stood down after a contentious Newcastle penalty decision this week. Refereeing decisions were now so bad, claimed one manager, that they were affecting areputationsa and alivelihoodsa.

The use of pitch-side replays and feeds from cameras set up around the pitch was to improve refereeing by reviewing four types of decisions: goals and the violations that precede them, straight red cards, penalties, and mistaken identity when awarding a card. The trouble is that many of the decisions aided by VAR are subjective and depend on how referees view and apply the rules. VAR means decisions now happen long after the action has taken place rather than in the moment. The speed of play affects the quality of decision-making. Referees, one study found, give a harsher foul against a player when they watch a replay in slow motion. If officials need better training then so do some players. Too many footballers appeal to the referee for VAR for trivial matters.

Peter Snow, who presented the programme for 17 years from its launch in 1980, on the broadcasteras plans to cut the programme

Itas no surprise that those of us who admire and love the BBC are so dismayed at its plan to eviscerate Newsnight (BBC under fire after aflat out bad decisiona to make big Newsnight cuts, 30 November). When we launched it in 1980, it was seen as a huge step forward. Examination of the dayas news in the depth afforded by 45 minutes was welcomed as a vital leap forward for television journalism. Since then, on countless occasions the programme has subjected the dayas news to thorough analysis, investigation and discussion. How much more essential is that today in a world with such a proliferation of dubious sources of news? OK, the audience has declined, but that leaves hundreds of thousands of us who will be starved of the journalism that matters.
Peter Snow
Presenter, Newsnight, 1980-97

aC/ Do you have a photograph youad like to share with Guardian readers? If so, please click here to upload it. A selection will be published in our Readersa best photographs galleries and on our Saturday letters spread in the print edition.

Readers respond to Yvette Casteras article about the benefits of switching four wheels for two

Yvette Casteras candid account (Why I quit complaining about cyclists, scrapped my car and chose public transport, 27 November) of her response to cyclists is a lesson the nation needs to learn a that the large majority who drive cars are far too many for the space on roads in this already overcrowded island, and that abandoning the car is both feasible and a road to a much better life, for oneself and humanity.

My wife and I returned to Britain on retirement in 2010 and decided, in response to the climate crisis, to try one year without a car, and without flying. We have neither driven nor flown since: we found the change of lifestyle just as beneficial as Caster has, and good for our health as well as the planetas.

The emirate hosting the UNas climate conference is selling a gilded vision of aspiration built on oil and everything it powers

The Dubai skyline is designed to inspire wonder, the sparkling glass towers reflecting the desert sky. At the northern end of the emirate, the worldas tallest skyscraper, the Burj Khalifa, juts into the atmosphere. If you face the tower with your back to a neighbourhood that largely houses migrant workers, you can gaze at it through a 150-metre-high gold frame a also the worldas largest a intended to present the real-life cityscape as though looking at a photo.

The sense of awe that comes from staring up at the towers of glass and metal or the fake canals and lakes between them, much like the manicured islands created to function as sea-level gated communities for the wealthy and famous, comes from the constant sense that everything the eye lands on has been created by human hands. Nothing is organic, and nothing is accidental.

Rishi Sunakas attendance comes after he scaled back pledges to help the UK reach net zero by 2050

• Cop28 live a latest updates

King Charles gave a call to arms in his Cop28 climate summit opening statement, as Rishi Sunak expressed delight over the monarchas record championing the issue.

Sunak said it was a aproud momenta for him to witness Charles deliver his speech on Friday, which aspeaks volumes about our type of leadership as a countrya.

Climate summitas opening days are a feast for the senses but air quality and smokestacks leave a bad taste

• Cop28 live a latest updates

If climate summits march, like armies, on their stomachs, then Cop28 looks in good shape.

Cop28: Can fossil fuel companies transition to clean energy?
On Tuesday 5 December, 8pm-9.15pm GMT, join Damian Carrington, Christiana Figueres, Tessa Khan and Mike Coffin for a livestreamed discussion on whether fossil fuel companies can transition to clean energy. Book tickets here or at theguardian.live

• Womenas Nations League updates, 7.45pm GMT kick-off
• Live scoreboard | And mail Luke any of your match thoughts

Last time out, England were beaten in a five-goal thriller in Belgium, a setback that put qualification out of their hands.

Suzanne Wrack was on the scene:

The authorities must not lose sight of the fact that they have a game, and a lot of wounded men and women, to look after

It isnat a secret any more. The identities of 207 more of the players involved in legal action against World Rugby, and the English and Welsh national unions, have been revealed, and, for the first time, the size and scale of the damage done is becoming clear to the public. It is a diverse list, a mix of men and women, amateurs and professionals, from a range of eras, with various conditions. But they have three things in common: they have all been diagnosed with neurological damage, they all allege it was caused by rugby, and they are all seeking damages from the authorities, accusing them of negligence.

Some played for the British & Irish Lions, some for England, some for Wales. Phil Vickery is one, Gavin Henson another, Mark Regan a third, Colin Charvis a fourth, Ian Gough a fifth, Harry Ellis a sixth. Some, like Duncan Bell, Paul Volley and Paul Sampson, were stalwarts of club rugby, and will be known, and loved, by many who follow the domestic game. Others were recreational players, people you wonat have heard of but who you might well have lined up with, or against, if you were ever a weekend player yourself.

Ominous news that those epic financial charges will be judged, eventually, feels like an existential threat for league and club

Tick-tock. Humans love an extinction event. Entire religious mythologies, entire episodes of Star Trek tend to move this way, toward hubris and nemesis, the notion of end times.

The Mayans had the end of the world pegged at 21 December 2012, which might, in retrospect, have been a decent offer we should have accepted. The entire cultural history of the 1980s is basically Midge Ure walking through the Vienna mist in a leather overcoat surrounded by decaying grandeur and laughing Nazi-yuppies, waiting for megadeath to fall from the skies.

• Iranian beats Zhang Anda to reach UK Championship semi
• OaSullivan denies Zhou Yuelong to edge through in York

Hossein Vafaei has vowed there will be no repeat of his kamikaze Crucible break-off when he faces Ronnie OaSullivan in the semi-finals of the UK Snooker Championship in York on Saturday.

The Iranian set up a rematch of the grudge clash that rocked Aprilas world championship by beating Chinaas Zhang Anda 6-4, while OaSullivan dredged up a break of 122 to sink Chinese qualifier Zhou Yuelong in a final-frame decider.

Ex-Manchester United player pleaded guilty to using disabled personas parking permit he said he bought for APS50 in Old Trafford

Ravel Morrison, the former Manchester United footballer, has been convicted of fraud after being caught using a deceased personas blue badge to park.

During his interview under caution, the 30-year-old had claimed he had bought the badge from asomeone in Old Trafforda for APS50. Morrison, of Westbrook, Warrington, was subsequently charged with one count of fraud.

• RFU announces latest financial figures in annual report
• Union also reports loss to reserves of APS6.3m up to June 2023

The Rugby Football Unionas decision to sack Eddie Jones and replace him with Steve Borthwick contributed to increased England costs of nearly APS5m, according to the organisationas annual report for the year ending June 2023.

Jones was sacked in December 2022 after a disappointing autumn campaign, with Borthwick taking over later that month. The RFU chose not to put Jones on gardening leave or insert a noncompete clause in his contract but, according to the annual report, he was awarded aa contractually pre-agreed termination paymenta.

• Captain wants to use failure as amotivationa against West Indies
• aThereas some really exciting talent in this teama

Only three weeks after a miserable World Cup campaign came to a conclusion Jos Buttler is back on tour and preparing for another one-day international series, pledging to ause it as a positive experiencea as work starts on refreshing and rejuvenating Englandas ODI side.

Buttler averaged only 15.33 with the bat as England lost six of their nine matches in India, but insists that after spending some time reflecting on that campaign he has lost none of his confidence either as a player or a captain.

• Hybrid contracts could be introduced in next agreement
• Premershipas precarious finances hinder future planning

A casual viewer of English rugby might consider this season notable for the World Cup at the start of it, but the really meaty exchanges for the future of the sport in the country will take place off-stage. The Professional Game Agreement, an eight-year deal between the Rugby Football Union and Premier Rugby, is up for renewal in the summer. Negotiations are ongoing.

The whispers have it that hybrid contracts for certain England internationals will be initiated as a means of sharing the playersa salaries between club and country. This is a huge question, particularly if you are a director of rugby trying to weigh up so much uncertainty around finances, recruitment and, simply, the state of mind of your players.

Home Office unlawfully failed to issue permission to stay, court told, despite ruling that 1,600 were entitled to it

The former home secretaries Priti Patel and Suella Braverman have been accused of operating a secret policy to deny 1,600 victims of trafficking leave to remain in the UK, despite a court ruling that they were entitled to stay.

A landmark high court ruling in November 2021 concluded that confirmed victims of trafficking who had claimed asylum and were waiting for a decision should be automatically given permission to stay in the UK, known as discretionary leave.

Hearing into death of Caversham primary school head was also told she thought Ofsted inspections were ainhumanea

Ruth Perry told an NHS clinician she was aamazeda that more headteachers did not take their own lives as a result of Ofsted inspections during a conversation a few weeks before her death, an inquest has heard.

aThis is the most inhumane system. Itas totally wrong that one person is made to feel like this. Iam amazed that there are not more heads killing themselves,a Perry said during treatment she received for her mental health struggles following Ofstedas inspection of her school.

In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org

Girl, who was 15 at time of murder, told boy in message not to be anxious as apolice are shite herea

A 16-year-old girl accused of murdering Brianna Ghey told her co-defendant not to worry about getting caught because the apolice are shite herea, a court has heard.

Both were arrested the day after the killing, shortly after the girlas mother rang Cheshire police to say the teenagers had been with Brianna on the afternoon she was killed, a jury at Manchester crown court was told on Friday.

Shadow chancellor reveals Darling helped shape Labour partyas current policies before his death this week

• UK politics live a latest updates

Alistair Darling warned Rachel Reeves not to fall into aTory trapsa as Labour prepares for the next election, the shadow chancellor has said, as she revealed how he helped shape the partyas current policies before he died.

Reeves said she was in regular contact with the former chancellor before his death, which was announced on Thursday by his family. She said the former chancellor had been a mentor to her, both when she was a new MP and later when she began to shadow his former brief.

Palestine Actionas Richard Barnard and co-defendants say alleged actions against Elbit Systems were aimed at stopping bombings

A co-founder of Palestine Action on trial with others for damaging an Israeli arms manufactureras UK sites has said they were justified because they were trying to stop people being bombed.

Richard Barnard, 51, and seven other defendants are accused of charges relating to actions against Elbit Systems Limited, which he said Palestine Action aims to ashut downa.

Book identifies King Charles and Princess of Wales as allegedly having discussed skin colour of Harry and Meghanas unborn son

Buckingham Palace is said to be aexploring all optionsa over the naming in a new book of two royals alleged to have discussed the skin colour of the Duke and Duchess of Sussexas unborn son, in a hint legal action could be on the table.

When asked by the BBC about reports that legal proceedings were being considered over the naming of the senior royals, a palace spokesperson told the broadcaster aweare exploring all optionsa.

Exclusive: Move to categorise PFOA as linked to cancer in humans by World Health Organization ups pressure on UK government

A substance found in hundreds of drinking water samples across England has been categorised as carcinogenic by the World Health Organization (WHO).

The move will increase pressure on the UK government to take action on aforever chemicalsa.

Congressman, who has pleaded not guilty to 23 federal fraud charges, becomes only sixth member ever expelled from US House

• How Santos responded to being fact-checked on his lies
• Whoall replace him in his New York swing district?

The New York Republican, fabulist and accused fraudster George Santos has been expelled from Congress.

The vote to expel Santos, the second since his election last year, required a two-thirds majority of those present. The final tally on Friday was 311-114, with two members recorded present and eight absent.

X plans to cater to small and medium-sized businesses as big advertisers pull their dollars

Major advertisers like Disney, IBM and Apple are still withholding ad dollars from Elon Muskas X two weeks after its owner endorsed an antisemitic tweet and two days after he launched an expletive-laden tirade to describe his feelings about the pull back. Marketing agencies are pulling back from it as well. In response, X has said it plans to attract smaller and medium-sized businesses to prop up its income.

aSmall and medium businesses are a very significant engine that we have definitely underplayed for a long time,a a statement given by the company to the Financial Times on Friday reads. aIt [was] always part of the plan a now we will go even further with it.a

Ministry says most people killed are women and children; US blames Hamas for end of truce, saying it failed to provide list of more hostages to be freed

• Israel and Palestine: a complete guide to the crisis

Palestinian media is reporting Israeli military strikes in northern Gaza, Reuters has snapped.

The Israeli military has resumed combat against Hamas in Gaza, the military announced, saying Hamas had violated the truce and fired towards Israeli territory, Reuters has snapped.

Actor paid $15,000 for an exam proctor to change her daughteras answers on the SAT and spent 11 days in prison in 2019

The actor Felicity Huffman says she paid to have her daughteras college testing scores raised a breaking federal law and getting imprisoned over it a because she felt pressed to give her child aa chance at a futurea.

Huffman, an Emmy winner who starred in the TV series Desperate Housewives, expressed that sentiment in an interview published on Thursday by the Los Angeles news station KABC. The interview marked the first time Huffman had discussed her role in the 2019 scandal that ensnared dozens of prominent, well-connected parents across the US accused of illicitly plotting to get their children into college.

Worries that gambling addiction has spiked in the US as legal sports betting booms have led to calls for increased regulation

The United States is heading into a aquagmire, if not crisisa of gambling addiction among young people, according to counselors and clinicians a prompting calls for a regulatory crackdown.

Treatment clinics are grappling with an influx of patients in their teens and early 20s and helplines are reporting record levels of calls.

Former supreme court justice voted on a range of issues, including abortion, affirmative action and campaign finance

Sandra Day OaConnor, the former US supreme court justice, died at age 93 in Phoenix on Friday of complications related to advanced dementia and a respiratory illness, the court said in a statement.

OaConnor was the first woman ever to serve on the US supreme court. She voted on a range of issues, including abortion, affirmative action and campaign finance.

Ruling clears way for Trump to face lawsuits from police and lawmakers seeking to hold him responsible for violence

A US appeals court on Friday ruled that Donald Trump must face civil lawsuits over his role in the 6 January 2021 attack on the Capitol by his supporters, rejecting the former presidentas claim that he is immune.

A panel of the US court of appeals for the District of Columbia circuit found that Trump was acting ain his personal capacity as a presidential candidatea when he urged his supporters to march to the Capitol. US presidents are immune from civil lawsuits only for official actions. Part of the lawsuit was filed under the 1871 Ku Klux Klan Act, a Reconstruction-era law, which makes it illegal to prevent an officer of the United States from performing their duties through threats or intimidation.

UK monarch addresses world leaders at climate summit where more than 100 states have committed to transforming food systems

The world has embarked on a avast, frightening experimenta on the natural world, King Charles has told world leaders, which risks triggering afeedback loopsa in the climate system that will cause irreversible disaster.

Noting that 2023 was the hottest year on record, the king told the Cop28 UN climate summit on Friday: aRecords are now being broken so often that we are perhaps becoming immune to what they are really telling us. We need to pause to process what this actually means: we are taking the natural world outside balanced norms and limits, and into dangerous, uncharted territory.a

State attorney general Ken Paxton files suit despite medical consensus that vaccine prevents severe infection and death

The attorney general of Texas is suing the pharmaceutical company Pfizer, alleging that it exaggerated the effectiveness of its Covid-19 vaccine and deceived the public.

Ken Paxton announced the lawsuit on Thursday after filing it in Lubbock state district court in north-west Texas, the Texas Tribune reported.

Christian Ziegler mentioned in heavily redacted police documents that includes the word arapeda, reports say

The chairman of Floridaas Republican party, Christian Ziegler, is reported to be under investigation for sexual battery a a potential political bombshell in a state that Donald Trump and Governor Ron DeSantis call home.

According to heavily redacted police department documents, Ziegler is mentioned in the context of an aactive criminal investigationa after an individual reported being asexually battereda at home in Sarasota on 2 October.

The 67- and 61-year-old sea cows have been at the Miami Seaquarium since 1956 and will be moved to a sanctuary

The decades-long captivity of two ageing manatees in aever deteriorating conditionsa at a Florida theme park will soon be over after the intervention of federal wildlife authorities and a campaign by animal rights activists for the mammals to be freed.

Romeo, a 67-year-old sea cow, and a female named Juliet, 61, have been at the Miami Seaquarium since being arescueda as calves in 1956, but will be moved to sanctuary elsewhere perhaps as early as next week, the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) told the Guardian.

Concerns over data-driven afactorya that significantly increases the number of targets for strikes in the Palestinian territory

• Israel-Hamas war a live updates

Israelas military has made no secret of the intensity of its bombardment of the Gaza Strip. In the early days of the offensive, the head of its air force spoke of relentless, aaround the clocka airstrikes. His forces, he said, were only striking military targets, but he added: aWe are not being surgical.a

There has, however, been relatively little attention paid to the methods used by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to select targets in Gaza, and to the role artificial intelligence has played in their bombing campaign.

IDF claim to be avoiding blanket bombing the south, where about 2mn people live, but their new approach does not look much different

Israelas Defense Forces waited just four minutes after the truce expired at 7am before restarting bombing, according to one resident of Khan Younis. An hour later, its military set out its plan for the anext stage of the wara: a division of Gaza into dozens of numbered aevacuation areasa, a core part of the militaryas plan to gradually take control of the southern part of the strip.

The militaryas plan, canvassed privately this week, is to avoid a repeat of the blanket bombing of the northern Gaza in the crowded south, with sequential, targeted bombing campaigns. Under the plan, people in certain numbered districts of Gaza will be told to evacuate before bombing begins, although how much time they will get is not clear; homes in Khan Younis were among the targets struck on Friday hours after the truce expired, and residents were given little if any time to flee.

Biden administration has informed Israel that Washington will impose the bans in the next few weeks

The Biden administration has informed Israel that Washington will impose visa bans in the next few weeks on Israeli extremist settlers engaged in violence against Palestinian civilians in the occupied West Bank, a senior state department official said.

Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, in his meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, and his war cabinet have let them know that the United States will take its own action against an undisclosed number of individuals.

As fighting resumes, we look at the capabilities of the Palestinian militant group and who controls it

• Israel-Hamas war a live updates

In military terms, Hamas is significantly weaker than it was on 7 October.

Sandra Day OaConnor, who has died aged 93, had two principal claims to fame. The first was indisputable: she was the first woman to serve as a justice of the US supreme court, holding office from 1981 to 2006. The second claim was less certain but widely believed among her fellow US citizens a that hers was the key vote that put George W Bush rather than Al Gore into the White House after the cliffhanging election of 2000.

With the outcome dependent on Floridaas 25 electoral college votes, both candidates had asked a succession of state and federal courts to rule on the validity of Floridaas ramshackle voting procedures. A three-week succession of contradictory judicial rulings inevitably brought the case before the USas highest court.

Nelson, who surveyed people door-to-door, is prioritizing Medicaid, education and high-speed internet for all households

Fabian Nelson didnat have a campaign platform when he announced his candidacy for Mississippias house of representatives. He knew, though, that his communityas needs would be central to his mission.

aWhen people are running for office, [they can be] very selfish and say: aOh, I live here and this is what I need,aa he said. aBut what you need is not necessarily the best thing for the community.a

With time possibly ticking on his papacy, Francis appears to be more determined to tackle conservative critics

As punishments go, it was harsh. This week, Pope Francis decided to strip one of his most vociferous opponents, the retired cardinal Raymond Burke, of his privileges, including financial benefits and a coveted rent-free Vatican apartment.

aIf this is accurate, it is an atrocity that must be opposed,a tweeted Joseph Strickland, a Burke ally, fellow conservative and another leading critic of the pope. Strickland knows what it is like to be on the sharp end of papal displeasure: last month, he was forcibly removed as bishop of Tyler, in Texas, after a Vatican investigation into the governance of his diocese.

Sharing walls or floors in apartment buildings means sharing noise, but it doesnat have to lead to conflict

Six years ago, in the haze of new motherhood, Adrianne Wright found herself facing an unexpected problem: a disgruntled neighbor.

Her daughter had been born nine weeks premature. aThere was a lot going on, understandably, from getting used to this new chapter to dealing with some of the health complications that she was experiencing, with [a|] noisy machines at home to monitor breathing.a The last thing Wright, the founder of the communications agency Think Rosie, wanted was to receive noise complaints from the neighbor living below her brownstone apartment in New York Cityas Park Slope neighborhood.

As a new film spotlights her 60-year career, record-breaking background artist Jill Goldston discusses turning down Warren Beattyas indecent proposal and hanging out with David Bowie

Jill Goldston has only recently moved into this airy flat, on the site of the old Teddington television studios in south-west London, but there are already two framed items on prominent display. One is her newly awarded Guinness World Records certificate for aThe most appearances by an extra/background actressa. The other is the poster for Jill, Uncredited, the strangely moving documentary short that has brought her into focus at last. aIave had an amazing career,a Jill says, as she sits down at the dining room table, to tell her film industry fable over a cup of tea. aSelf-indulgent, really a I was getting paid to have fun and I always found the people fascinating.a

Now a vivacious 80-year-old, Goldston was born nearby in 1943, within people-watching distance of Twickenham Studios, the birthplace of British classics such as The Italian Job. She discovered her love of dance aged three, and at 15 ran away from home to join the Butlinas revue company. aNot because I didnat like my parents, who I liked very much indeed, but because it was an adventure. So I left them a note and went.a It was at Butlinas that Jill met her husband, Geoff, with whom sheas recently celebrated a 60th wedding anniversary, although when I congratulate her, Jill says airily, aI think it shows a lack of imagination, actually.a If so, sheas more than compensated for that lack in other areas.

His shot of Nixon jabbing Khrushchevas chest was one of his era-defining images, but Erwitt was equal parts eyewitness and dreamer and his delight in humanity may be his final legacy

aC/ Elliott Erwitt, acclaimed American photographer, dies at 95

The early life of Elliott Erwitt, who has died aged 95, was marked by upheaval and conflict. His Russian Jewish parents had fled their home country after the Russian Revolution to France, where he was born in 1928. The family then headed to Milan, only to return to Paris to escape Mussolinias regime. They eventually migrated to the US, just as the second world war began. Erwitt was drafted for military service in 1951, and served in Germany and France.

Photography, at first, provided young Erwitt the opportunity to retreat from the world. One of his first interactions with the medium as a teenager was printing headshots of actors in a commercial darkroom in Los Angeles. Later, he would photograph Hollywoodas most famous stars himself, including Marilyn Monroe, Marlene Dietrich and Grace Kelly.

Iall get a phone call: aWant to sleep with bedbugs?a To which my reply is normally: aHow nice is the hotel?a

Iave been a publican for most of my working life, and if youad told me 10 years ago that instead of being behind a bar Iad be sleeping with bedbugs for money, Iad have thrown you out for being drunk. Back in 2016, pub work began to dry up. I got chatting to David Cain, an acquaintance who runs the bedbug control company Bed Bugs Ltd, and told him I needed a job. He offered me work doing the deep cleans after they treated properties for infestations. Two weeks after the treatment, I would go in, strip the bed and do another clean to make sure there was nothing left. Iad clear up any treatment residue, give everything a good scrub, look for eggs, nymphs, and any signs of faecal or live samples. I was really grossed out.

Usually, if itas a low-level infestation it can be eradicated in one session a if you catch it early itas not as difficult to get rid of as people make out. We use a super-heated steam treatment and everything is completely green, which means you donat have to leave your property or throw anything away.

A new documentary challenges an alleged 1946 mistranslation that helped lead to a justification for Christian anti-gayness

What if all the anti-gay, homophobic rhetoric that has come from the Christian right over these past few decades was rooted in a mistranslation of the Bible?

In the documentary, 1946: The Mistranslation that Shifted Culture, researchers and scholars delve into the 1946 mistranslation of 1 Corinthians 6:9 and explore how it fuelled the Christian anti-gay movement that still thrives today.

Itas all very well Greece wanting its rightful treasure a but the Brits have left some pretty good artefacts lying around the planet. Surely itas time they came home?

As Rishi Sunak continued his war of words with the Greek government and threw a tantrum at PMQs on Wednesday, what cunning plan might he deploy to appease Tory headbangers and distract the electorate?

The row kicked off when Sunak cancelled a meeting with Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis, after the latter said that Britainas retention of a portion of the Parthenon marbles was like acutting the Mona Lisa in halfa. Mitsotakis was invited to see Oliver Dowden instead, to which he unsurprisingly replied aA3chi efcharistA3a (no thanks).

Sober Christmas is more fun. Iave got back some of the magical vibes

I was never an alcoholic before I went sober two and a half years ago. Rather, I was a classic British drinker, and never more so than at Christmas, when, just like little Aled Jones, I was walking in the air or, more accurately, three sheets to the wind from about 8 December until the end of the year. The term aalcoholica, I thought, was for those who simply cannot face a day without a drink, but as a non-alcoholic mere arevellera, I too couldnat face any part of Christmas without a glass in hand.

The difference was that I did so in a sequined dress and, sometimes, an antler headband, so that was fine. If I drank four glasses of cotes du rhone after a carol service, followed by mulled wine with colleagues the next night, then champagne after shopping with friends and cocktails after ice skating, that was fine, too. I was just being festive. Traditionally, by the week before Christmas, Iad be feeling rather un-ho-ho-ho, with bloated, grey skin, a bit depressed and overwhelmed by the to-do list waiting for me.

Listen to all the episodes of Grace Dentas Comfort Eating podcast here. Her new book of the same name is published by Guardian Faber at APS20. To order a copy for APS17, visit guardianbookshop.com

Late-night hosts discuss George Santosas farewell from Congress and whether Henry Kissinger was the greatest of all American war criminals

Jimmy Kimmel has waited for George Santos to be voted out of Congress all week and on Thursday evening, he was still waiting. aWhy this has taken so long, I have no idea,a he said of the disgraced New York congressman. aThis is like if a mental patient escaped the hospital and wandered into an air traffic control tower and then a year later he was still up there landing planes.a

The fight between two of Americaas most powerful governors, billed by Fox as aThe Great Red v Blue State Debatea, mostly hurt DeSantis

On Thursday night, Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, reminded the US why he will never be president. His voice grates, his visage a cross between a squinted grimace and scowl. He looks like Manuel Noriega, the ex-Panamanian dictator, without the scarring. On a personal level, he lacks humor, warmth, wit or uplift. He is ham-handed, an awkward social warrior.

DeSantis comes across as too hot. This is the guy who picked a fight with Mickey Mouse, his stateas largest employer. He holds degrees from Yale and Harvard, but repeatedly flashes clouded judgment. In other words, there are plenty of reasons why he is getting walloped among Republicans by Donald Trump.

The Israelisa goal of destroying the enemy risks slipping further out of reach the more they pursue it

And on the eighth day, the war began anew. After a week of joy and relief for those Israeli families reunited with loved ones held hostage by Hamas, and of respite from Israeli bombardment for the people of Gaza, seven days of rolling ceasefires came to an end this morning. No more hugs, no more quiet. Instead, the war between Israel and Hamas is back on, presenting once more what moral philosophers refer to as a atragic choicea a a dilemma where there are no good options, only two different routes to disaster. In fighting Hamas, Israel faces just such a predicament a and yet there are too many, among both those who defend Israel and those who denounce it, who refuse to see that.

Start with those who believe that the massacre by Hamas of more than 1,200 Israelis on 7 October gives Israel the moral licence to respond however it sees fit, subject to almost no limitations. In this view, the horror of the October attacks, the sadism and cruelty of the killing, torture and rape, crossed every moral red line and so Israel can do whatever it takes to defeat those to blame. Not as revenge, but as prevention a to ensure that Hamas cannot make good on its vow to stage another 7 October, and another and another, until Israel is eradicated.

Jonathan Freedland is a Guardian columnist

The Sussexes-friendly author swears he never name-checked Charles and Kate. The truth? Look, itas very hard to nail down

A hugely intriguing week in Dutch publishing mishaps, as the Netherlandsa edition of a new book about the royals names King Charles and the Princess of Wales as the two family members who supposedly speculated about the skin colour of Prince Harry and his wife Meghanas then-unborn son. The opus in question is Endgame by Omid Scobie a officially, a Sussex-friendly journalist; unofficially, a jacquard polo shirt influencer of quite substantial importance. Asked about the raging drama, Scobie declared: aTo be honest, Iave been operating a bubble of no emotion for the last 10 days.a Which youall know was the exact same thing Lytton Strachey said in the week of publication of his volume on Queen Victoria. Nothing becomes a contempo historian like the aI canat evena of it all.

But we race ahead of ourselves. The details a I want to say facts, but I somehow feel that judgment is best reserved for now a are these. Omid Scobie, who increasingly looks like a felt-pen drawing of Omid Scobie, has this week published Endgame, which the publisher says is aa penetrating investigation into the current state of British monarchya. Go on. aAn unpopular king, a power-hungry heir to the throne, a queen willing to go to dangerous lengths to preserve her image, and a prince forced to start a new life after being betrayed by his own family a| this is the royal familyas endgame. Do they have what it takes to save it?a You get the gist. For anyone who ordered the word salad, he recommends the Windsors amove forward with growtha.

Just like oil and gas businesses, and petro-states, carbon-intensive industries including meat will fight to keep on polluting

Agriculture companies and lobbyists are among those who arrived in the United Arab Emirates for Cop28 determined to resist pressure on them to transform their businesses. Documents show that JBS, the worldas biggest meat company, and allies including the Global Dairy Platform, planned to make arguments in favour of livestock farming with afull forcea. While the sincerity of fossil-fuel businessesa commitment to a green transition has long been doubted, they are not the only energy-intensive businesses to approach�Cop28 as an opportunity to promote their activities a�rather than a threat.

While the ostensible purpose is to safeguard the planet for the future, the fear is that the Cop process has been captured by the short-term interests of carbon-emitting industries that will do anything to protect their wealth. This yearas gathering is hosted by Sultan Al Jaber, the chief executive of the UAEas national oil company.

Horserace polling canat tell us anything new about who will win the electoral college a but the existence of an anti-Maga majority is clear

Now that Thanksgiving has passed in America, and everyoneas Trumpy uncle is on his way back to his conservative state, we still have our catastrophizing Democratic cousins to contend with. Triggered by the drumbeat of horrific poll results, they are panicking that Joe Biden is too old and unpopular to prevent a second Trump administration from taking power.

These cousins, and perhaps you too, are suffering from the latest strain of what I call Mad Poll Disease. Itas a perpetual state of anxiety a spread by the mediaas obsession with using polls to forecast the outcome of the next election, instead of empowering voters with all the information they need to decide what they want that outcome to be and act, or vote, accordingly.

This isnat some ghoulish competition, where any empathy shown to dead Israelis leaves less available for Palestinians

There is no such thing as a perfect victim, but a million ways to be an imperfect one. She was drinking. Her skirt was too short. She went willingly back to the footballeras mansion, or up to Harvey Weinsteinas hotel suite, so what did she think was going to happen? Maybe she was a teenage runaway, or a sex worker; he was a good boy, or a much-loved celebrity. There is a long list of reasons rapists get away with it, but it all too often starts with a juryas refusal to listen to a woman they have already decided for some stubborn reason not to like. Remember that, as we come to the distressing picture now emerging of alleged multiple rapes and sexual assaults by Hamas fighters amid the atrocities of 7 October.

This week, the UN secretary general, AntA3nio Guterres, finally called for what he described as anumerous accounts of sexual violence during the abhorrent acts of terror by Hamasa to be avigorously investigateda.

Gaby Hinsliff is a Guardian columnist

Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues is available from the following organisations. In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support on 0808 500 2222 in England and Wales, 0808 801 0302 in Scotland, or 0800 0246 991 in Northern Ireland. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.

The Broncos are looking to become only the fifth team since 1990 to reach the postseason after losing their first three games

As the regular season draws to a close, weall take a look each Friday at a game likely to affect the playoff race, along with the teams whose fortunes are rising and falling. And, so we donat neglect the also-rans, weall see which teams are in the hunt for next yearas No 1 pick.

• Police say dead livestock found at OSU frat house on Friday
• Oklahoma State to face Texas in Big 12 title game on Saturday

Police say a dead longhorn cow was found on the lawn of an Oklahoma State University fraternity on Friday, the day before the schoolas football team plays the University of Texas Longhorns in the Big 12 championship game.

Police were notified just after 6.30am of the dead animal on the lawn of Farmhouse fraternity, according to Stillwater police officer TJ Low.

A former NFL star has attacked ESPNas coverage of allegations against the player as showing racial bias. But the reality of the matter is far from black and white

aNBA player suspected of improper relationship with minora is the kind of headline that usually stops the press. But little about this curious case involving Josh Giddey has gone by the book. For a tipoff, it was the league itself a not one of its sleepless scoop hounds a that broke the news over last weekas Thanksgiving holiday weekend that it was investigating allegations of an improper relationship between the Oklahoma City Thunder swingman and an underaged girl. In a social media post, a user said a girl who features prominently in photographs and videos with Giddey was as young as 15. Giddey turned 21 last month. aIam dating Josh!a she screams in one snippet. aWe donat have to talk about it!a

But even as the league office appears to be treating the matter with utmost seriousness and local police are launching their own investigation too, the league-wide reaction has been oddly restrained a perhaps because Giddey has yet to miss a start as a result. Giddey barely addressed the matter when the news broke. aI understand you guys want to know about it,a he said last week, abut right now, I just donat have anything to say.a Thunder coach Mike Daigneault has been just as reluctant to comment on the allegations or pull Giddey a a leading scorer, rebounder and assist man a from the OKC lineup, filing it under apersonal mattera.

• Spaniard has not played since Januaryas Australian Open
• The 22-time grand slam winner has been plagued by hip injury

Rafael Nadal will return to professional tennis in January after a year-long layoff as he seeks a fitting end to his legendary career.

Nadal, a 22-time grand slam champion, has not competed since the Australian Open in January, where he lost in the second round to Mackenzie McDonald after suffering a hip injury.

Before a World Cup final defeat to the US in the 90s, Chinese womenas soccer was a powerhouse. Now, the nation is plotting for greater success in the 2030s

Sporting history is littered with Sliding Doors moments, instances when future fortunes pivot on one swing of a bat, one toss of a ball or one swipe of a boot.

So named for the 1998 movie in which alternate realities of Gwyneth Paltrowas lead characteras life play out simultaneously, diverging at the point at which she did or didnat get on a tube train, the most consequential example of a Sliding Doors moment in the history of womenas soccer came on 10 July 1999 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.

Class-action lawsuit alleges footballeras promotion of worldas largest cryptocurrency exchange was adeceptive and unlawfula

Cristiano Ronaldo has been hit with a class-action lawsuit seeking at least $US1bn in damages for his role in promoting cryptocurrency-related anon-fungible tokens,a or NFTs, issued by the beleaguered cryptocurrency exchange Binance.

The lawsuit filed in federal court in the Southern District of Florida on Monday alleges the footballeras promotion of Binance was adeceptive and unlawfula.

The mother of boxingas last undisputed world heavyweight champion passed away on Thursday aged 85

Violet Blake (known to the world as Lennox Lewisas mum) died on Thursday 30 November at age 85. Lennox announced her death on social media, describing the loss as aan indescribable type of hurt that has me reeling, yet also has me comforted to know she is now in a better place with no more sufferinga.

Violet Lewis (her maiden name) was born in Jamaica on 10 May 1938. Her father was a laborer. Her mother worked as a household domestic. Violet was one of twelve children. When she was young, she lived with her Aunt Gee. Then Gee married and Violet was sent to live with another aunt. aI canat recall ever living at home with my brothers and sisters,a she told Lennoxas biographer, Ken Gorman, in 1992. aI hardly knew my mum and dad.a

Court of appeal ruling means government has only until 2030 to reach target

A Belgian court has declared the countryas climate targets aclearly insufficienta and ordered the government to cut emissions faster.

In a powerful victory for climate campaigners, the Brussels court of appeal ordered Belgium to cut its planet-heating pollution by at least 55% from 1990 levels by 2030. By 2021, Belgium had cut its emissions by just 24%.

In part two of our series exploring myths surrounding EVs, we weigh up the issues of resource extraction

In the deserts of Chile, the Australian outback and the plains of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the earth is being peeled back and the water sucked up and dried out to find the minerals needed to feed the worldas need for electric cars.

The scars left on the earth by the search for battery minerals are regularly trotted out by opponents of the transition away from fossil fuels. But in our EV mythbusters series, we are taking a closer look at some of the most common criticisms of electric cars, highlighting the myths, the realities, and the grey areas.

Climate-related disasters disproportionately affect women and girls as reproductive services crumble and gender-based violence rises

The climate crisis threatens the chances of gender equality being achieved in the countries most vulnerable to global heating, the UN has said.

As Cop28 opens in Dubai, UNFPA, the UNas reproductive and maternal health agency, released data showing that the 14 countries most at risk from the effects of the climate crisis are also those where women and girls are more likely to die in childbirth, marry early, experience gender-based violence or be displaced by disaster.

Study explores link between higher particle pollution and conditions such as anxiety disorders and depression

Each passing week there seems to be a strengthening in the evidence that air pollution harms our health. Now research in Rome has revealed the impact of air pollution on our mental health.

Dr Federica Nobile of the department of epidemiology of the Lazio regional health service explained what led to the research. aRecent studies have linked air pollution to the development of psychiatric disorders, including depression, anxiety, and psychotic episodes. However, all these associations have been mainly investigated in small groups, making their results challenging to generalise.a

Employees paid tribute to Mai Ubeid, who was killed in Gaza, and denounced Project Nimbus, which provides services to Israelas military

In the shadow of Googleas sprawling New York City campus, former and current Google and Amazon workers gathered on Tuesday evening to pay tribute to Mai Ubeid, a young woman and software engineer who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza along with her whole family. The workers also took the opportunity to castigate their employers for contracts with the Israeli military.

Ubeid had graduated from a Google-funded coding bootcamp, Gaza Sky Geeks, and later interned at a firm that was part of the Google for Startups accelerator program in 2020. Those who knew her have described her in written tributes and in interviews with the Guardian as a strong and determined visionary. She had muscular dystrophy and, as such, used a wheelchair to get around. Ubeid dreamt of one day developing a platform for people with disabilities to network and connect, according to Kathrine Tinggaard Nicolaisen, a former communications manager at Gaza Sky Geeks based in the West Bank who knew and had met Ubeid.

UAW, representing 400,000 in the US and over 580,000 retired workers, makes announcement as military operations resume

The United Auto Workers, one of the USas largest labor unions, has come out in support of a ceasefire in Israel and Palestine as a temporary ceasefire ended on Friday with Israel resuming military operations in Gaza.

The UAW is now the largest union to have called for a ceasefire. It represents 400,000 workers in the US and more than 580,000 retired workers.

Empire actor loses bid to overturn conviction after he was found to have lied to police about 2019 hate crime attack he orchestrated

An appeals court upheld the disorderly conduct convictions on Friday of the actor Jussie Smollett, who was accused of staging a racist, homophobic attack against himself in 2019 and then lying about it to Chicago police.

Smollett, who appeared in the TV show Empire, challenged the role of a special prosecutor, jury selection, evidence and many other aspects of the case. But all were turned aside in a 2-1 opinion from the Illinois appellate court.

The whale breached for about 40 minutes, also performing several pectoral fin slaps and dives that delighted onlookers

A humpback whale visiting the waters off Seattle dazzled onlookers on Thursday morning with several breaches in the bay just beyond the cityas downtown area.

The whale has been spotted for the last three days swimming around Elliott Bay. But on Thursday, the whale breached for about 40 minutes, also performing several pectoral fin slaps and dives.

This article was amended on 1 December 2023 after an editing error misidentified the whale in the headline.

Republicans have proposed $767m in cuts to HIV funding and held up Pepfar reauthorization for first time since 2003

On 1 December 1988, for the first time in history, a public day of awareness was celebrated. Called World Aids Day, it served as an attempt by the World Health Organization and the United Nations to bring awareness to a disease that had already killed 45,000 Americans by that point and tens of thousands more worldwide.

It was the first time that the Names Projectas Aids memorial quilt, which memorably included one coffin-sized panel for each person who had died of Aids, was displayed at the same time on multiple continents. Elected officials such as Chicagoas mayor, Eugene Sawyer, used the day as an opportunity to announce groundbreaking HIV/Aids public awareness and education campaigns.

aSlugfesta moderated by Sean Hannity saw the Democrat and Republican speaking over each other in heated ashadow campaigna

Ron DeSantis, a hard-right contender for the Republican presidential nomination, took the stage in Georgia on Thursday for a debate one eager website dubbed aThe Vendetta in Alpharetta.a

But the Florida governoras opponent was not Donald Trump, the former president and clear primary frontrunner, or any other Republican contender. His opponent was Gavin Newsom, the Democratic governor of California,who is not seeking his partyas nomination next year, given Joe Bidenas grip on the White House.

Friend was not at home when woman allegedly forced herself inside home of Michael Latt, 33, and fired semi-automatic handgun

A high-profile entertainment marketing consultant was targeted by a woman who had been stalking one of his friends before she fatally shot him after forcing her way inside his Los Angeles home, prosecutors said Thursday.

Michael Latt, 33, had worked on projects with filmmakers including Ryan Coogler and Ava DuVernay, as well as the rap artist Common. He was pronounced dead on Monday in the hospital.

Governor Ron DeSantis scheduled six of the countryas 24 executions this year amid his presidential election bid

The US saw a rise in executions in 2023 as a result of Floridaas revival of the death penalty, amid Ron DeSantisas atough on crimea campaign for the Republican presidential nomination.

DeSantis scheduled six executions this year a the first time the state has judicially killed people since 2019 and the largest number in almost a decade. Florida also handed down five new death sentences this year, more than any other state.

Book identifies King Charles and Princess of Wales as allegedly having discussed skin colour of Harry and Meghanas unborn son

Buckingham Palace is said to be aexploring all optionsa over the naming in a new book of two royals alleged to have discussed the skin colour of the Duke and Duchess of Sussexas unborn son, in a hint legal action could be on the table.

When asked by the BBC about reports that legal proceedings were being considered over the naming of the senior royals, a palace spokesperson told the broadcaster aweare exploring all optionsa.

Critics say nation aunder attacka as coalition plans to review Te Tiriti o Waitangi and other policies that provide for MAori

More than 180 years after MAori leaders gathered near the banks of the Waitangi River to sign the treaty that became New Zealandas founding document, their descendants fear that the rights afforded to them in the agreement may be under attack.

The countryas new coalition government, sworn in this week, has said it will review the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, or Treaty of Waitangi, which upholds MAori rights, including the right to autonomy.

Foreign minister of Guyana condemns Venezuela president for holding referendum on countryas claim to Essequibo

The foreign minister of the tiny South American nation of Guyana has said that neighbouring Venezuela is aon the wrong side of historya as it risks sparking conflict over an oil-rich and long-contested swath of rainforest.

Tensions between the two countries have reached unprecedented heights ahead of a referendum on Sunday intended to rubber-stamp Venezuelaas claim on the region of Essequibo.

Lead books stolen from artwork, representing loss of more than $1m, according to prosecutor

Thieves have stolen parts of a lead sculpture by the German contemporary artist Anselm Kiefer from a warehouse in France, representing a loss of more than $1m (APS785,000), a prosecutor said on Friday.

Kiefer, 78, is renowned for his bleak sculptures and installations confronting his countryas Nazi past, which sell for millions.